Going on holiday fills many of us with excitement but alas the journey to get to our chosen destination does not always go to plan… For some travellers, airports are the gateway to the world but for others it can be a different story thanks to delays, long queues, cancellations and additional costs like parking. The Telegraph recently ranked the biggest airports in Britain from best to worst, with Manchester Airport featuring in the rankings.
The Telegraph analysed factors such as flight punctuality, average delays, and cancellations in order to create an overall score out of 1,000 points. With a whopping 30,789,056 passengers travelling through Manchester Airport in 2024, the North West airport is a pretty popular choice to fly from and here’s why it might or might not be a worthy gateway for some jet-setters.
Where did Manchester Airport come in the best and worst airports ranking?
Whether you love or loathe the spot, Manchester Airport earned 764 points out of 1,000, falling a little short behind the nation’s best performer, Liverpool John Lennon, which scored 888 points. Although not one of the best airports in Britain, Manchester Airport was certainly not the worst, with Cardiff scoring 591 points.
The factors which unfortunately let the airport down, according to The Telegraph, were:
Punctuality: Only 64% of flights left and arrived on time in 2024.
Delays: On average, passengers faced a 20-minute wait per flight.
Cancellations: Close to 1.1% of flights were scrapped altogether.
Manchester Airport was ranked the most-connected in the North
Despite factors such delays and cancellations, Manchester Airport ranked highly for how connected it is to other destinations. Coming in fourth place after the big London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted), Manchester Airport serves a total of 188 destinations across 56 countries, making it the most connected of all the major airports in the North. Plus, Manchester Airport is set to become the first UK airport outside London to offer direct flights to Bangkok in Thailand later this year.
Manchester Airport was also praised for its ease when it came to travelling to and from the airport to Manchester city centre, being 14.5 miles away by road. With an average car journey of 29 minutes and just 18 minutes by train, it managed to beat all London airports (apart from London City) when it came to the ease of reaching the airport – after all, many of so-called London airports are not even in London.
Manchester Airport Terminal 2 has been undergoing redevelopment, with some shops an restaurants opening recently in the revamped departure lounge such as brands LEGO, Rituals and Pandora as well as coffee giant Starbucks, baguette specialists Upper Crust, and juice bar Joe & The Juice. Further shops and restaurants are expected to open at the Manchester Airport Terminal 2 lounge later this year – including Chanel, Grindsmith by WHSmith, a Fever Tree cocktail and champagne bar, and the Great Northern Market – a food court with a selection of street food options.
More than 70% of the airport’s passengers will use the new facilities and Terminal 1 is set to close when the project is completed.
Britain’s biggest airports ranked from best to worst, according to The Telegraph
- Liverpool John Lennon
- George Best Belfast City
- London City
- London Heathrow
- Newcastle International
- London Gatwick
- Birmingham
- Inverness
- Aberdeen International
- Jersey
- Edinburgh
- Southampton
- Manchester
- Glasgow
- Cornwall Newquay
- East Midlands
- Isle of Man
- London Luton
- Belfast International
- Norwich
- Guernsey
- Bournemouth
- Leeds Bradford
- Exeter
- London Southend
- Sumburgh
- Bristol
- Glasgow Prestwick
- London Stansted
- Cardiff
You can find the Telegraph’s full rating of all 30 of our biggest airports here.
